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AstraZeneca reported that a second participant developed severe symptoms after receiving the experimental vaccine. But, the company says, the causal relationship is unlikely.
The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which is developing a vaccine against COVID-19, in association with the University of Oxford, reported that a second volunteer developed an unexpected reaction after receiving the experimental vaccine. The person in question showed “unexplained neurological symptoms” in the third phase of the trial, reports The New York Times.
The clinical trial in question was interrupted a few days ago, after another volunteer developed transverse militis (a neurological disease caused by an inflammatory process in the spinal cord). At that time, the British company clarified that the suspension was intended to conduct an analysis of the case. Studies have resumed in the UK, Brazil, India, and South Africa, but are still on hiatus in the United States.
Experts are particularly concerned about the British drugmaker’s vaccine trials, which began in April in the UK, due to the company’s refusal to provide details about the serious neurological diseases detected in the two participants, both women.
For its part, the company promised transparency and stressed that, in both cases, the health problems detected were not related to the vaccine, as verified in an “independent review.” “These diseases were considered unlikely to be associated with the vaccine,” with “insufficient evidence to say with certainty whether the diseases were related to the vaccine or not,” AstraZeneca said.
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